Suction-type seed harvester



1953 c. T. MANNING 2,627,713

SUCTION-TYPE SEED HARVESTER Filed May 6, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

C/ageme ZMQ/7/77 Feb. 10, 1953 c. T. MANNING SUCTION-TYPE SEED 'HARVESTER' s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 6, 1949 Feb. 10, 1953 c. T. MANNING 2,627,713

SUCTION-TYPE SEED HARVESTER Filed May 6, 1949 3 SheetS-Sheet 3 4/ V 42 42 INVENTOR Ware/roe 23410007 %%mmywzw hnhan ATTORNEY! Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED srATE-s PATENT o-FFieE SUGYIIONLTYPESEEUHKRVESQEE. Glarencell rlvlanning, Eaglerlllichs Anmica'ticrrM-ay e; 1949, seriarnt; 91 ,832: I

(01. sits-1a),

Claims This invention relates to harvesting machines; and more particularly to" a tractor drawri' m'achine for gathering seeds; and the likeby suc tion action.

A main object oftheinvntiow i 's=to provide a novel and improvedseedgatheringmachine:of the" suction type which is-siinple: construction; efficient-in operation, and whicli enables seeds to be harvestedfrom grassesand-low growing"plantsf without first requiringf'these'edstc be? stripped from the" plants;

A further object of the inventicn'is to' provide an improved suction-type" seed-harvestingmachine of the tractor=drawn; type=which will' simultaneously strip seeds" from their stalks. and pick up the seeds; said machine beingpartic ularly adapted for harvesting; seedsifrcmf grasses and otherlow-growing plantsiand enablingsjee'ds to be harvested whichwould'not be availableifor harvesting cy'the useiof theconventicnalcombine' or mower.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent frcmthe followingj description andclaimsan'dfrom. thejacccmpa ny ing drawings; wlierein:

Figure I- a. top plan. View of a pneumatic V tractor drawn harvestinginachine. constructed in accordancewlthi'thefpresent invention with the tractor partly shown;

Figure 2 is a sideelevationalview of the harvestingimachine of Figure 1;

Figure- 3' is a' transverse cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is iii-fragmentary front-el'evational detail viewof the lower portion of the intake nozzle member employed in the machine of Figure 1;

Figured is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view taken-on line 5-5 of Figurefi;

Figure 6 an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical'crossrsectional view takenthrough one or" the bearings of the beater member employed in the machine of Figure 1,

Referring" to the drawings, H designates theframe of; the machine saidjrame: comprising, a transverse channel bar l 2; co nnec ted by bars: shown respectively at I31 4* amid-5: to a drawbarbracket It which is pivotally connected at I! to the drawbar I8 of a conventional tractor. Frame El also includes a sub-frame l9 secured to the rear end portions of bars l4 and I5 and supported on the ground-engaging wheels shown at 2B and Si by an axle 12!.

Mounted on sub-frame I9 is a blower housing 22 in which is journaled a blower rotor 23 whose shaft, shown at 24, is journaled in bearings at the upper ends of standards I24 and I25 upstanding from the: sub fi' ame" t9- and provided witl r-a pulley 255 Pulley1 5 is coupled by." a-belt 2 6 to apulley-2 1 carried on a shaft '28" rotatably internally-squared sleeve member 36' which slid-= ably but ncn-rotatably'receives: a square shaftelement 31'; Shaft element 31" is connected-Zby a universal" joint 38 to the power t 'alie-off shaft 31 ofthe tractor.

Secured to; channel bar" I 2 by rearwardly extending-linkbars iiil; 39 isthe intakenozzlemembar it; said nozzle member comprising a rigid housing open at" its bottom' and supported for longitudinal: movement withth-e skids 4], ti.

The lower transverse margins of: nozzle member 4i ccmprisehinged 'fiaps 4-2} 42f'jas' shown in Figure5; The tcp endoffnozzl'e member tfl-is formed with a" discharge conduit'fl: The-intakeconduit cf-blowenhousing 22 -isshownat4 l'f: Gbnduite :23 i and 4e" are placed communication by" a sleeve is which is? rigidly secured to" conduit 43 but isslidable"; on conduit {it} whereby? relative axial mcvementbetweem nozzle 4B and the blower ina takeconduit 4'4 is permitted;

Nozzle member is provided in its side walls with roller-bearings4E2} Designated at ll is a beater rotor having end' stubshaft elements 48' and 69 j'ournaled in said roller bearings. Shaft element 4 9 carries a pulley 50 which is coupled by a belt"5lto a pulley 52 carried on a shaft 53' supported by channel bar l2'-l Shaft 53" also carriesa-pulley-tt. Pulley fit'is coupledby a crossed belt-55' to a pulley 56 rotatablyandslidably car-- riedon a s'lriaft-Fil mounted onthesub-frame l9 in axial alignment with shaft 28. Pulley'tifi has a toothed" clutch sleeve element 58 which is engagedwith a similar clutch sleeve element on pulley 2 7- and isbiase'd into engagement there- Witl'rlcya' coiled-spring til on shaft" 5 as: shown inFigure-I.

As shown in Figuremounted in brackets 60, 6| which are pivotally connected to channel l2. Bracket 60 is connected to bar I3 by a tensioning spring 52 and an adjustable eye bolt 63, whereby the belts 5| and 55 are kept taut by the action of said spring, the tension of the belts being regulated by adjusting the eye bolt 63.

Rotor 41 has opposing helical flanges 6s, 5 to '1', shaft 53 1s rotatably" which are secured the respective flexible beater strips 65, 65'. Said strips may be made of rubber or similar yieldable material, the outer edges of said strips being preferably toothed or serrated, as shown at 86. Secured within nozzle member 40 over the rotor 41 is a curved shield or bafile plate 61 terminating at 68, as shown in Figure 5, and defining a relatively narrow intake passage 69 with respect to the rear wall of the nozzle member 40. The top of baffle plate 61 is formed with a downwardly and forwardly-inclined fiat top wall element 10, defining a collection space for stones and other debris thrown upwardly through passage 69 by the action of beater rotor 41 and by the suction provided by the blower.

In operation, beater rotor 4J1 rotates counterclockwise, as viewed in Figure 5, loosening the seeds carried by plant stalks over which the nozzle member 40 is being drawn. The loosened seeds are drawn upwardly through nozzle member 40 by the suction ofblower rotor 23 and pass through conduit 43, sleeve 45 and conduit 4:3 into blower casing 22. The seeds are blown out of the blower housing through the discharge conduit thereof, shown at l l, and are deposited in a suitable receptacle, not shown.

While a specific embodiment of a tractor-drawn suction-type seed harvesting machine has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understoodthat various modifications within the 0 spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A suction-type harvester adapted to be towed and driven by an agricultural tractor having a power take-0E connection comprising a wheel-supported frame including a drawbar bracket for connection to an associated tractor,

a blower including a housing mounted on said frame and provided with an inlet and an outlet and a rotor journaled in said housing, a groundsupported housing connected to said frame for up-and-down movementrelative to the latter and having an open bottom, end walls and a discharge conduit, conduit means connecting the discharge conduit of said ground-supported housing to the inlet of said blower housing for limited freedom of movement of said groundsupported housing relative to said blower housing, a rotary beater disposed in said groundsupported housing adjacent the open bottom of the latter and journaled at its ends in the end walls of said ground-supported housing, and drive means mounted on said frame and connected to said blower rotor and said rotary heater for drivingly connecting the power take-on connection of an associated tractor to said rotor and said beater, said ground-supported housing also having a front wall and a rear wall, and a baflie extending transversely of said ground-supported housing above said rotary beater and between said end walls with one edge spaced from said rear wall to provide a narrow intake passage and with its other edge secured to said front wall, said baiiie sloping downwardly and forwardly toward said front wall to provide thereabove a receptacle for stones thrown by said beater through said intake passage.

2. In a vacuum harvester including a wheelsupported frame and a suction blower mounted on said frame and provided with an inlet and an outlet, a ground-supported housing pivotally connected to said frame and having an open bottom and a discharge conduit connected to the inlet of said blower, said ground-supported housing also having end walls and a front and a rear wall, a rotary beater disposed in said housing adjacent the open bottom of the latter and journaled at its ends in said end walls, and a bafile extending transversely of said housing from one end wall to the other and having one edge secured to said front wall and its other edge spaced from said rear wall to provide a restricted inlet passage between said rear wall and said other edge thereof, said baffle being inclined downward- 1y toward said front wall to provide thereabove a receptacle for receiving stones thrown by said heater through said inlet passage.

3. In a vacuum harvester including a wheelsupported frame and a suction blower mounted on said frame and provided with an inlet and an outlet, a ground-supported housing pivotally connected to said frame and having an open bottom and a discharge conduit connected to the inlet of said blower, said ground-supported housing also having end walls and a front and a rear wall, a rotary beater disposed in said housing adjacentthe open bottom of the latter and journaled at its ends in said end walls, and a baflie extending transversely of said housing from one end wall to the other and having one edge secured to said-front .wall and its other edge spaced from said rear wall to provide a restricted inlet passage between said rear wall and said other edge thereof, said bafile being inclined downwardly toward said front wall to provide thereabove a receptacle for receiving stones thrown by said beater through said inlet passage and said beater including spirally-shaped beater strips of flexible material extending from one end to the other of the heater in mutually opposed relationship to each other.

CLARENCE T. MANNING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,220,132 Jenkins Mar. 20, 1917 1,331,710 Isom Feb. 24, 1920 1,370,919 Schaefer Mar. 8, 1921 1,418,476 Schaefer June 6, 1922 1,418,542 Dill June 6, 1922 2,046,932 Wyatt et a1 July 7, 1936 2,274,340 Moots Feb. 24, 1942 2,352,854 Miller July 4, 1944- 2,481,652 Fort Sept. 13, 1949 2,495,417 McConnel et a1 Jan. 24, 1950 2,496,022 Remonte Jan. 31, 1950 

